Home schooling is the ultimate expression of helicopter parenting. Send the snowflakes out into the real world. They will be fine.

My oldest graduates from college with her BS in May. She's considering doing a turn in the Peace Corps before she returns for her graduate degrees. She was homeschooled for the first half of her school career.

We took our two daughters all over the United States as part of their studies. They read whatever they liked. They studied hard science, not creationism or any of that crap. They read real books, not reading books written by textbook manufacturers. They took dance and music lessons with other kids. They went to museums, aquariums, zoos and parks regularly.

Far from being helicopter parents, we give our oldest tickets to Bonnaroo every year, and we sent her to her Vietnam for a couple of weeks. Our middle daughter (still in high school) flies cross-country by herself twice a year.

We used the best books and materials available, not what was left over after the Texas Board of Education got through with it.

You are aware of that, right? Texas, being the second largest state, student-wise, buys a lot of text books. Much of what Texas adopts ends up in the rest of the country because the publishers do their best to please their largest customers. As a result, many public text books follow science and history to the degree that Texas allows.

So, while my kids were reading Charles Darwin and out digging fossils, untold numbers of public school kids were getting the watered down "it's only a theory" version. While my kids were standing on the battlefield at Chalmette, learning about the Battle of New Orleans, untold numbers of public school kids were learning about how awesome the Moral Majority is (new window).

So, how about this: I'll educate my kids to be the very best they can possibly be. I'll teach them to read phonetically instead of using sight words. It'll take longer and is more labor-intensive, but they'll spend the rest of their lives reading and understanding at a higher level. I'll teach them to use their brains and teach them how to reason. I'll teach them to question information and authority. They'll go out into the world and succeed along with the other homeschooled kids we know who have gone on to college, including many at Ivy League schools.

FloydA:Judy Jennings, the mother of Farker NobodynOse, is running for Texas School Board to try to stop the creationists from damaging the US education system.

I pledge to donate 1 dollar to her for every post by Bevets or Skinnyhead in this thread, up to $50.00 total (it would be more, but on a part time teacher's salary, that's all I can do).

This way, the creationist trolls are forced to reveal themselves. Either they continue to post, proving that they don't really believe what they say, in which case we win because Jennings gets elected, or they remain silent, in which case, we win because the thread is not polluted with their annoying tripe.

Can I convince anyone else to pledge?

Thank you SO much for helping in the cause!

My mother says "Thank you very much for standing up for science."

For everyone else, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE click here to find out how you can help. The fight for sanity in our education system is one that affects everyone, no matter what state you live in.

This is disgusting. These poor kids are going to be "educated" not in reality, but in religious mythology that will get them nowhere in life. Being indoctrinated into a fantasy world of superstition and magic, they will be ill-prepared for the real world, especially when they grow up and find that what they learned in home-school was a patchwork of lies. You simply don't get to invent your own facts, and if these parents aren't capable of teaching their children school subjects based on reality and not mythology, they shouldn't be allowed to teach them.

Nah, it adds information, plenty of information. Compare the genome of a single celled organism (extremely short, one chromosome) to a human (23 pairs). Random mutation can and has added considerable length to whatever the first functional DNA strand was.Logically it seems like "selection" only removes genes, but it has no necessary impact on DNA length. Two groups with 2 different genes typically have the exact same length of DNA but common difference between the groups (X gene is off versus on).

Mentat:Adam Brown's parents say their 16-year-old son's belief in the Bible's creation story isn't deterring him from pursuing a career in marine biology. His parents, Ken and Polly Brown, taught him at their Cedar Grove, Ind., home using the Apologia curriculum and other science texts.

Polly Brown said her son would gladly take college courses that include evolution, and he'll be able to provide the expected answers even though he disagrees.

"He probably knows it better than the kids who have been taught evolution all through public school," Polly Brown said. "But that is in order for him to understand both sides of that argument because he will face it throughout his higher education."

Dear Adam Brown. Someday I will be reviewing your publications. I won't be as nice about it as Mommy is. Good luck.

Yeah, I can't wait until he makes it to real school (if it happens.) It's going to be funny if he does indeed pursue higher education; can't you just imagine him in some college level class, trying to correct the professor? "But Doctor, marine life didn't evolve! That's a lie from Satan! Didn't you know, God created them by magic?"

Sleeping Monkey:The textbook delivers a religious ultimatum to young readers and parents, warning in its "History of Life" chapter that a "Christian worldview ... is the only correct view of reality; anyone who rejects it will not only fail to reach heaven but also fail to see the world as it truly is."

When the AP asked about that passage, university spokesman Brian Scoles said the sentence made it into the book *because of an editing error* and will be removed from future editions.

soze:msannomalley: One thing that the Fundies fail to grasp is that Evolution is a theory. (Emphasis mine)

the·o·ry/ˈθiəri, ˈθɪəri/ Show Spelled[thee-uh-ree, theer-ee] Show IPA-noun,plural-ries.1. a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity.2. a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.3. Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject: number theory.4. the branch of a science or art that deals with its principles or methods, as distinguished from its practice: music theory.5. a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles.6. contemplation or speculation.7. guess or conjecture.

Evolution has not been proven to be a fact. Right now, it's still a theory. It cracks me up that a bunch of people get their knickers in a twist over something that technically, has not been proven to be fact. If it were, then it would be the law of evolution.

Jesus Christ you're stupid. This is what happens when we let rubes run away with the vocabulary of science.

Flight's still a hypothesis, you know. Planes and birds shouldn't even exist, they just use someone's cockamamie idea to get around.

You know what else is a theory? Stress theory. It's what engineers use to build buildings, bridges, and keep the wings on airplanes ...yeah, just a theory.

msannomalley:One thing that the Fundies fail to grasp is that Evolution is a theory. (Emphasis mine)

the·o·ry /ˈθiəri, ˈθɪəri/ Show Spelled[thee-uh-ree, theer-ee] Show IPA-noun,plural-ries.1. a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity.2. a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.3. Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject: number theory.4. the branch of a science or art that deals with its principles or methods, as distinguished from its practice: music theory.5. a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles.6. contemplation or speculation.7. guess or conjecture.

Evolution has not been proven to be a fact. Right now, it's still a theory. It cracks me up that a bunch of people get their knickers in a twist over something that technically, has not been proven to be fact. If it were, then it would be the law of evolution.

Yes, it's a theory, just like gravity. That's a theory, too, just given "law" status by age.

Jackpot777:Sleeping Monkey: The textbook delivers a religious ultimatum to young readers and parents, warning in its "History of Life" chapter that a "Christian worldview ... is the only correct view of reality; anyone who rejects it will not only fail to reach heaven but also fail to see the world as it truly is."

When the AP asked about that passage, university spokesman Brian Scoles said the sentence made it into the book *because of an editing error* and will be removed from future editions.

You know, for a religion where lying is a mortal sin punishable by an eternity of being raped raped by barbed demon penises, these Christians sure do a LOT of lying.

/yes. I said it twice.

Didn't you know, any "sin" is ok as long as Christians are the one doing it. That's why they can throw tantrums over gay marriage, but they themselves can get divorced as many times as they want. That's why they can bash other religions as deride them as evil or Satanic, but can them claim "persecution" whenever people dare to criticize them. Since apparently they are the only right ones, they can do no wrong. This includes lying, since they've made a pretty penny (and attracted loads of gullible followers) inventing scary stories about all kinds of imaginary dangers (Harry Potter, the evil gays, Democrats, scientists, etc.)

I was home schooled, since I grew up in an area several hundred miles from the nearest school. My "science" books of course just rehashed various biblical accounts. But it was actually the history and civics books that were the most bullshait. My "Government and Economics" book actually tried to prove from the Bible that the metric system of measurements was sinful.

Sword and Shield:msannomalley: One thing that the Fundies fail to grasp is that Evolution is a theory. (Emphasis mine)

the·o·ry /ˈθiəri, ˈθɪəri/ Show Spelled[thee-uh-ree, theer-ee] Show IPA-noun,plural-ries.1. a coherent group of general propositions used as principles of explanation for a class of phenomena: Einstein's theory of relativity.2. a proposed explanation whose status is still conjectural, in contrast to well-established propositions that are regarded as reporting matters of actual fact.3. Mathematics. a body of principles, theorems, or the like, belonging to one subject: number theory.4. the branch of a science or art that deals with its principles or methods, as distinguished from its practice: music theory.5. a particular conception or view of something to be done or of the method of doing it; a system of rules or principles.6. contemplation or speculation.7. guess or conjecture.

Evolution has not been proven to be a fact. Right now, it's still a theory. It cracks me up that a bunch of people get their knickers in a twist over something that technically, has not been proven to be fact. If it were, then it would be the law of evolution.

Yes, it's a theory, just like gravity. That's a theory, too, just given "law" status by age.

I am glad someone beat me to this. "Theory" in science isn't the same as "theory" in common usage. Gravity, too, is a "theory" but I don't see any Christian fundies protesting is (yet.) I guess it might be hard for people raised to believe in magic corpses coming back to life, but people in the real world do have pretty strict standards when it comes to scientific thought. The vast majority (well, all really) legitimate scientists long ago accepted evolution as fact; I don't think you'll find many educated people trying to put forth "Jesus made it happen by magic!" as a valid viewpoint in teaching biology.

You know what I never understood about homeschooling? I actually am a highschool teacher and I would not feel comfortable teaching a student anything but Math, Comp Sci, or Physics, the areas I'm certified to teach in. I don't know enough geography, history or english to teach a student effectively. How can parents that have no university education in a field feel comfortable teaching it to thier child?

So my mom, who works as a CNA at an assisted living facility, was trying to do a friend a favor. See, the friend was dating a girl who was home schooled. Said girl was absolutely terrified of getting a job in the real world, but had done caregiving for family members so mom figured she could work part time as an Aide, no problem.

So, girl comes into the facility to fill out her application. It turns out she read at below a sixth grade level, and couldn't even complete the application without someone reading it to her. Needless to say her application was not accepted.

Yes, one anecdote. But it's consistent of every home schooler I've met or heard about. Send your kids to school, public or private. They'll thank you later.

/future radiation protection technician//who thinks that religion needs to stay to a theology class///SCIENCE, it works biatches

"The proper application of both the endorsement and Lemon tests to the facts of this case makes it abundantly clear that the Board's ID Policy violates the Establishment Clause. In making this determination, we have addressed the seminal question of whether ID is science. We have concluded that it is not, and moreover that ID cannot uncouple itself from its creationist, and thus religious, antecedents.

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The citizens of the Dover area were poorly served by the members of the Board who voted for the ID Policy. It is ironic that several of these individuals, who so staunchly and proudly touted their religious convictions in public, would time and again lie to cover their tracks and disguise the real purpose behind the ID Policy."